Unmanned drone aircraft circling the world, armed up and roaming at will
They don't roam at will - they are flown by people at the end of a long wireless link. Think of it as 'Fly By Wireless' rather than 'Flt By Wire'.
I can only speak for Reaper/Predator as they have forward looking cameras and also the sensor ball can be slewed forward - you can read the registration on a C-17 from 15+ miles. It has a feed from other ground based and air based RADARs that allow the pilot/sensor to get and maintain SA on other aircraft around it. It has its own transponder that other aircraft with TCASI and II can sense. Finally, it files IFR and always talks to an Air Traffic or Fighter Controller, the radio message comes from the aircraft and not the cabin 3-4,000 miles away. They also have telephones, e-mail and access to the classified/unclassified internet. I would say that the SA in a ground control cabin is far, far better than I ever had in a fast jet or any other manned aircraft that I have flown. A final non-cooperative 'sense and avoid' automated system, similar to TCAS but able to detect non-transponding aircraft and linked to an autopilot, is all that is needed now for them to fly in Class G.
I believe many companies are working on this, including a hugely inefficient european conglomorate that has so far squandered £££s and €€€s on the problem.
LJ
